WW South defeats Hoffman Estates
Nobody said the postseason was going to be easy. The Wheaton Warrenville South girls basketball teams knows and accepts this.
Hoffman Estates, seeded 14th in its own sectional, gave the third-seeded Tigers all they could handle. But WW South used a 21-9 third quarter to pull away and win 57-42 on Tuesday night in the first of two Class 4A Addison Trail regional semifinals.
The Tigers return to Addison at 7:30 p.m. Thursday night to face sixth-seeded Wheaton North for the regional title.
“It’s never easy trying to beat a team three times. Whoever it is, it will be a great game,” said Kasey Gassensmith, who led all scorers with 20 points, before the second semifinal contest.
WW South (26-3) turned a 19-19 halftime lead into a 40-28 advantage at the end of third quarter on 9-of-14 shooting from the field after going 6 of 25 in the first half.
Gassensmith hit for 5 points during that timespan, while Maggie Dansdill hit 4 of 6 shots during the quarter, finishing with 14 points.
“We were just trying to get in motion and get our intensity up,” Dansdill said of the crucial quarter.
Hoffman Estates (12-17) led 10-6 after the first quarter as the Tigers shot an ice cold 2 of 13.
“That first quarter was really slow. We had to improve our speed,” Gassensmith said.
“In the first half our offense struggled, but our defense was good. We allowed just 19 points,” said WW South coach Rob Kroehnke. “I thought in the second half, Maggie got two or three 10- to 15-foot jumpers in a row and that was the spark we needed. We got a 6- to 8-point lead and that put pressure on Hoffman Estates.”
Hoffman Estates (12-17) was led by sophomore Destinee Young with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Sara Burns followed with 12 points. Rebecca Stoczynski and Mary Pettit each had 8 points and Stoczynski pulled down 8 rebounds.
Sierra Bisso had 7 points for WW South.
“Hoffman Estates is a good, solid team. Young is an impressive player especially in the post. I’m glad we were able to survive and advance,” Kroehnke said.